Mark Atkinson's veterinary career has spanned the globe--from Zimbabwe to Montana--and has provided him with the opportunity to work around an amazing variety of wild animals on two continents. He is also a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the regulatory body for veterinarians in the United Kingdom. In his current position, Dr. Atkinson is the first wildlife veterinarian to be employed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

 

Dr. Atkinson was born in Zambia and raised in Zimbabwe in southern Africa. He received his International Baccalaureate from the United World College in Trieste, Italy and a veterinary degree in 1989 from the University of Zimbabwe. After graduation, Dr. Atkinson worked for a year in a private mixed animal practice in western Zimbabwe, then the Wildlife Unit of the Veterinary Research Laboratory (Zimbabwe). He worked there for three years with wild animals on private land, providing veterinary input on the capture and translocation of more than 5,000 wild ungulates.

 

While at the Veterinary Research Laboratory, Dr. Atkinson became involved in rhinoceros and elephant conservation issues in Zimbabwe and surrounding countries. In 1993 he accepted a position with Zimbabwe's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management as their first full-time wildlife veterinarian. Working closely with veterinary colleague Dr. Mike Kock, Dr. Atkinson performed field captures, translocations, radio-telemetry research, and dehorning of every remaining rhino in the country. In addition to his work with rhinos and elephants, he was also involved in other wildlife projects, including conservation work and research with cheetah, lions, buffalo, honey badgers, wild dogs and crocodiles.

 

In 1996, Dr. Atkinson left Zimbabwe for the United States to become Director of Wildlife and Conservation Medicine at the Wilds, an international wildlife conservation facility based in southeastern Ohio. He was able to continue his work with rhinos while at the Wilds by working with local veterinarians and conservationists in southern Nepal. Dr. Atkinson is currently the North American veterinary advisor for captive greater one-horned rhino  at the AAZV (American Association of Zoo Veterinarians).

 

Dr. Atkinson left the Wilds to become the wildlife veterinarian with Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in December 2004. He is responsible for maintaining the health of Montana's wild animal populations and works year-round with the state's major wild animal species: Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, bison, elk, mountain goat, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, grizzly and black bear, mountain lion, and gray wolf. His current interests include conservation medicine; chemical immobilization techniques; the impact of disease on free-roaming wildlife populations; brucellosis among bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area; respiratory disease complex in bighorn sheep; and infectious diseases in grey wolf populations.

 

When he's not focused on the well-being of the state's wildlife, Dr. Atkinson enjoys wildlife photography, fly-fishing, participating in triathlons, and the pleasures of living in Montana. His diverse experiences as a veterinarian have fostered in him a deep commitment to the development of closer professional relationships across disciplines and between colleagues in developed and developing countries, as well as appropriate, adaptive methods for the conservation of Africa’s and the world’s wildlife through sustainable utilization.